Apparatus for making brick cases



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APPARATUS FOR MAKING BRICK CASES Filed Oct. 12, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 q ow u/y g INVENTORS wr'zw zzzz BY .144/4-"5 5. Fm/4M 519542 UNA-'5 Arron v5):

Nov. 21, 1961 w. H. MYERS ETAL 3,009,504

APPARATUS FOR MAKING BRICK CASES Filed Oct. 12. 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEYS 21, 1961 w. H. MYERS ETAL 3,009,504

APPARATUS FOR MAKING BRICK CASES Filed Oct. 12, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 20 2/ 37 2a r /3/ r24 36 o O O I 7 "la-:1 1:1" 1":

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3,009,504 Patented Nov. 21, 1961 ice APPARATUS FOR MAKING BRICK CASES William H. Myers, Glen Burnie, Md., Walter S. Leeper,

Calumet City, Elk, and James E. Coifman, Jamestown,

N.Y., assignors to Harbison-Walker Refractories Company, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Get. 12, 1960, Ser. No. 62,168 13 Claims. (Cl. 1532) This invention relates to the making of metal cases for refractory bricks, and more particularly to apparatus for making telescoping channels to form such cases.

The refractory bricks, from which furnace walls and roofs are constructed, are often enclosed on four sides by sheet metal cases. One way of making such cases is to assemble two half cases, each in the form of a metal channel. One channel is slightly narrower than the other so that the two channels can be telescoped and their overlapping fianges then welded together. In the past, the making of such channels has required either two machines, one for making the wider channels and the other for the narrower channels, or the making of a run of channels of one size and then adjusting the machine and making a corresponding run of channels of the other size. The first method involves the expense of two different machines, while the second one requires adjusting and readjusting the machine for each run of channels of a given size.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide apparatus for making telescoping channels to form brick cases, in which a single machine will simultaneously form two channels of different widths that can be telescoped together.

In accordance with this invention, a strip of sheet metal is fed ahead intermittently between a pair of parallel vertically spaced top and bottom supports, from their rear end to their front end. Front and rear and middle dies are mounted on the bottom support and extend across it in locations spaced lengthwise of that support. A shear is mounted on the bottom support between its rear end and the rear die, from which it is spaced. Mounted on the bottom of the top support are front and rear and middle dies that normally are disposed above the level of the strip and the lower dies. The upper rear and middle dies are spaced apart a slightly different distance than the lower front and middle dies and are positioned above the spaces at opposite sides of the lower rear die. A shear is carried by the top support for cooperating with the lower shear. The upper front die is positioned above the space between the lower front and middle dies. Cooperating shears are carried by the supports between the middle dies. The top support is moved down toward the bottom support to shear the strip into two blanks and to fold one blank down around the rear lower die and to fold the other blank up around the upper front die. In this manner, a pair of channels of two different widths can be formed simultaneously. By using tapered and angularly disposed dies, tapered channels can be made for enclosing key bricks.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a side view of our apparatus with a metal strip extending across it;

FIG. 2 is a similar view but with the dies closed to form two channels;

FIG. 3 is a view of the rear end of the apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line IVIV of FIG. 1 and showing the lower dies in plan;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal section taken on the line V-V of FIG. 1 to show how the upper dies look from below;

FIG. 6 is a reduced fragmentary plan view of a metal strip showing diametrically the flat blanks that are cut from it; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a key brick enclosed in a case made from a pair of channels formed in our apparatus.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3 of the drawings, a pair of vertically spaced supports in the form of heavy horizontal plates 1 and 2 are operatively connected together by posts 3 extending downward from the corners of the upper plate and into sleeves 4 mounted on the corners of the lower plate. The latter is provided with openings 5 through it having the same diameter as the inside of the sleeves. This arrangement permits the upper plate to be reciprocated relative to the lower one in any suitable manner, such as by piston rods 6 connected to the top of the upper plate. When the two plates are spaced their maximum distance apart, the cooperating dies that they carry are likewise spaced apart vertically. There are two sets of dies and two sets of shears so that two channels can be formed from two blanks cut from a metal strip 7 that is fed forward between the two plates by any suitable well-known feeding means (not shown). The strip is fed from the rear ends of the plates toward their front ends intermittently.

Extending across the lower plate 2, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, are three dies; a front die LP, a rear die LR and a middle die LM. The front die is formed from a block 10 that is secured to the lower plate and that is provided along its upper rear edge with a recess in which a metalbending insert 11 is removably mounted. The die may be rectangular in cross section as shown. The middle die likewise is formed from a block 12 provided along its upper front edge with a removable metal-bending insert 13. The rear die is formed from a block 14 that preferably tapers downward, and both of its upper longitudinal edges are recessed to receive removable inserts 15. Spaced from the rear die, between it and the rear end of the lower plate, there is a shear LRS, also in the form of a block 15 having a shear blade 17 recessed into its upper front corner. Preferably, the shear projects a short dis tance above the level of the lower dies and supports the metal strip near the rear ends of the plates.

The dies mounted on the lower surface of the upper plate 1 are positioned to cooperate with the lower dies.

Consequently, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the upper front die UP is located directly above the space between the lower front and middle dies. This upper die has the same general appearance as the lower rear die. The upper middle die UM is located above the space between the lower middle die and rear die. The block 20 that supports the upper middle die insert 21 also has a recess extending along its front edge containing a shear blade 22 for cooperation with a similar blade 23 mounted in the upper rear corner of the lower middle die block 12. The

upper rear die UR is positioned above the space between the lower rear die and the rear shear LRS. It includes a removable shear blade 24 for cooperation with the underlying shear blade 17.

1 When the upper supporting plate is moved downward, the strip 7 is sheared by the rear shears 17 and 24, and immediately thereafter it is sheared by the centrally located shears 22 and 23, whereby two flat metal blanks are formed. By shearing the strip in the two places in suc-' cession, less power is required. As the upper plate continues to move downward the upper middle and upper rear dies bend the rear blank down around the front and rear edges of the lower rear die LR to form a channel 26 as shown in FIG. 2. At the same time, the upper front die UF forces the front blank down between the lower made slightly wider than the other. This is done by spacing the dies at the opposite sides of either channel a slightly greater distance apart than the corresponding dies beside the other channel. The difference in space need be only about twice the thickness of the sheet metal.

To restrain the central portion of each blank during the bending operation, a pressure block 2? is resiliently mounted between the lower front and middle dies, and a similar pressure block 39 is resiliently mounted between the upper middle and rear dies. Each of these blocks is provided witha number of vertical sockets 31 therein to receive the heads of studs 32 that extend out of the inner ends of the sockets and into the adjoining plates, in which they are anchored. Each stud is encircled by a coil spring 33 that is compressed between the adjoining supporting plate and pressure block to normally hold the block in an outer position as shown in FIG. 1. The springs permit the pressure blocks to be forced toward their supporting plates when the upper dies descend, with the blanks clamped between those blocks and the opposing dies. Since it is desirable to overbend the channels so that when they are released from the dies their flanges will converge toward their outer edges to some extent, whereby the channels will grip a brick inserted in them, the lower face of the upper front die and the upper face of the lower rear die are made concave in transverse section, and the opposing faces of the pressure blocks are made transversely convex. Consequently, the channel webs are curved inwardly during forming.

The springs 33 cause the pressure blocks 29 and 30 to perform as ejectors, which push the channels out from between the dies at their opposite sides when the upper plate is raised. As soon as a channel is freed from those dies, its curved web will flatten and that will swing the channel flanges in against the inclined opposite sides of the die with the concave face. Therefore when the dies completely separate, the rear channel 26 stays on the lower rear die and the front channel 27 is carried up by the upper front die.

Immediately thereafter, each channel is pushed lengthwise otf its supporting die to make ready for the next blanking and bending cycle. The stripping is done by providing one side of each of the dies UP and LR with a dovetail slot 35 extending lengthwise thereof and receiving a slide 36 connected to a plunger rod 37 extending into a fluid pressure cylinder 38. One cylinder is mounted in a bracket 39 fastened to the lower plate and the other one is carried in like manner by the upper plate. When fluid pressure is admitted to the outer ends of these cylinders, the slides are pushed along the slots 35 in the adjoining dies in engagement with the ends of adjacent channel flanges, and the channels are thereby stripped lengthwise from the dies and ejected from the machine.

It will be seen that every time the shears and dies are brought together, two blanks are cut from the strip and immediately formed into a pair of mating channels. Then the strip is fed ahead so that another pair of channels can be made. The one machine makes two sizes of channels at the same time.

Although our apparatus is perfectly suitable for making channels that have parallel flanges, it is especially suitable for forming channels that have tapered webs; that is, the flanges converge toward one end. Such channels are used for encasing key bricks, such as shown in FIG. 7. To make these channels the shears and dies are mounted on their supporting plates 1 and 2 in such a way as to cut tapered blanks from the metal strip and then bend them to form channel flanges of uniform width from end to end, thereby providing tapered webs. The taper of the blanks is indicated in exaggerated manner in FIG. 6. It will be seen in FIG.

4 that shear blade 17 is slightly inclined to the strip 7 and that lower rear die LR is tapered, with its rear insert 15 parallel to the shear blade and its front insert 15 parallel to middle shear blade 23, which therefore is inclined to the strip in a direction opposite to the direction of blade 17. Also, the lower front and middle dies are arranged with their inserts El and i3 diverging in the same direction and at the same angle as the lower rear die tapers. Insert 13 is parallel to the adjacent shear blade 23. The end of the strip, of course, is cut off at the same angle as rear shear blade 17. The lower pressure block or ejector 23 is tapered to the same extent as the lower rear die, but in the opposite direction.

On the top plate 1 the front die UP is tapered like the underlying pressure block, and the upper ejector 29 is tapered like the underlying die LR. Upper shear blades 22 and 24 are inclined to the same extent as the blades that they cooperate with, and the metal-bending inserts beside the upper ejector are parallel to it and therefore converge toward one end.

It will be understood that when tapered channels are being made it is important that the strip travel across the correct areas of the dies. Otherwise, the size of the blanks will vary. Toposition and guide the strip, guide members 40 are adjustably mounted on the rear end of the lower plate 2 by bolts 4-1 extending into it through horizontal slots 42 in the guides, as shown in FIG. 3. The removable metal-hending inserts and shear blades permit the substitution of other inserts and blades when blanks of a different taper are to be formed.

This apparatus also can be used for making case channels having webs of uniform width, but tapered flanges. Such channels are used for encasing wedge bricks. The metal strip is cut in the same manner as indicated in FIG. 6, but the upper front die UP and the lower rear die LR each has parallel sides, so each tapered blank will be folded along parallel lines and tapered flanges therefore will be produced.

Although the upper and lower dies have been described and claimed herein in the positions shown, that has been done solely for convenience of description and not by way of limitation, because it will be understood that the apparatus will perform just as well if the top and bottom plates and their dies exchange places.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, we have explained the principle of our invention and have illustrated and described what we now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, we desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for making telescoping channels for refractory brick encasement from a strip of sheet metal fed ahead intermittently, said apparatus comprising parallel vertically spaced top and bottom supports having front and rear ends, front and rear and middle dies mounted on the bottom support and extending across it in locations spaced lengthwise of that support, a shear mounted on the bottom support transversely thereof between its rear end and said rear die and spaced from the latter, front and rear and middle dies mounted on the bottom of the top support and normally disposed above the level of the lower dies, the upper rear and middle dies being spaced apart a slightly different distance than the lower front and middle dies and being positioned above the spaces at opposite sides of the lower rear die, a shear carried by the top support for cooperating with said lower shear, the upper front die being positioned above the space between the lower front and middle dies, cooperating shears carried by said supports between said middle dies, and means for moving the top support down toward the bottom support to shear two blanks from said strip and to fold one blank down around the rear lower die and to fold the other blank up around the upper front die, whereby a pair of channels of two different widths will be formed simultaneously.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which said rear bottom shear projects above said lower die level.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, including means carried by said supports for pushing formed channels lengthwise off the upper front die and the lower rear die when said supports are separated.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1, including a fluid pressure cylinder secured to each of said supports at an end of the dies, a piston rod projecting from each cylinder, means secured to the outer end of one rod for engaging an end of a channel on the upper front die, and means secured to the outer end of the other rod for engaging an end of a channel on the lower rear die, whereby to push said channels endways off said front and rear dies when said supports are separated.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which the lower face of said upper front die and the upper face of said lower rear die are concave transversely.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1, including channelejecting means mounted on the bottom support between the lower front and middle dies, and channel-ejecting means mounted on the bottom of the top support between the upper rear and middle dies.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which each die includes a block mounted on one of said supports and provided with a longitudinal extending recess along an outer edge, and a metal-bending insert mounted in said recess.

8. Apparatus for making telescoping channels for refractory brick encasement from a strip of sheet metal fed ahead intermittently, said apparatus comprising parallel vertically spaced top and bottom supports having front and rear ends, front and rear and middle dies mounted on the bottom support and extending across it in locations spaced lengthwise of that support, a shear mounted on the bottom support transversely thereof between its rear end and said rear die and spaced from the latter, front and rear and middle dies mounted on the bottom of the top support and normally disposed above the level of the lower dies, the upper rear and middle dies being spaced apart a slightly different distance than the lower front and middle dies and being positioned above the spaces at opposite sides of the lower rear die, a shear carried by the top support for cooperating with said lower shear, the upper front die being positioned above the space between the lower front and middle dies, cooperating shears carried by said supports between said middle dies, means for moving the top support down toward the bottom support to shear said strip into two blanks and to fold one blank down around the rear lower die and to fold the other blank up around the upper front die to thereby form a pair of channels of two different widths, one side of each of said last-mentioned dies being provided with a slot eX- tending lengthwise thereof, a slide disposed in one end of each slot and projecting laterally therefrom, and means mounted on said supports beside said slides for pushing them along said slots to strip channels from the slotted dies.

9. Apparatus for making telescoping channels for refractory brick encasement from a strip of sheet metal fed ahead intermittently, said apparatus comprising parallel vertically spaced top and bottom supports having front and rear ends, front and rear and middle dies mounted on the bottom support and extending across it in locations spaced lengthwise of that support, a shear mounted on the bottom support transversely thereof between its rear end and said rear die and spaced from the latter, front and rear and middle dies mounted on the bottom of the top support and normally disposed above the level of the lower dies, the upper rear and middle dies being spaced apart a slightly different distance than the lower front and middle dies and being positioned above the spaces at opposite sides of the lower rear die, a shear carried by the top support for cooperating with said lower shear, the upper front die being positioned above the space between the lower front and middle dies, cooperating shears carried by said supports between said middle dies, a vertically movable ejector plate disposed between the lower front and middle dies, a vertically movable ejector plate disposed between the upper rear and middle dies, springs normally urging the ejector plates away from the adjoining supports, the outer surface of each plate being convex transversely and the opposed surface of the cooperating die being concave transversely, and means for moving the top support down toward the bottom support to shear said strip into two blanks and to fold one blank down around the rear lower die and to fold the other blank up around the upper front die, whereby a pair of channels of two different Widths will be formed simultaneously.

10. Apparatus for making telescoping channels for refractory key brick encasement from a strip of sheet metal fed ahead intermittently, said apparatus comprising parallel vertically spaced top and bottom supports having front and rear ends, front and rear and middle dies mounted on the bottom support and extending across it in positions spaced lengthwise of that support, front and rear and middle dies mounted on the bottom of the top support and normally disposed above the level of the lower dies, the upper rear and middle dies being spaced apart a slightly different distance than the lower front and middle dies, the upper front die and the lower rear die being tapered in opposite directions, a shear mounted on the bottom support transversely thereof between its rear end and said rear die and spaced from the latter, the cutting edge of the shear being substantially parallel to the adjacent side of the lower rear die, the upper rear and middle dies being positioned above the spaces at opposite sides of the lower rear die, a shear carried by the top support for cooperating with said lower shear, the upper front die being positioned above the space between the lower front and middle dies, cooperating shears carried by said supports between said middle dies, the cutitng edges of said cooperating shears being substantially parallel to the adjacent side of the upper front die, and means for moving the top support down toward the bottom support to shear said strip into two tapered blanks and to fold one blank down around the rear lower die and to fold the other blank up around the upper front die, whereby a pair of tapered channels of two different widths will be formed simultaneously.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10, including hori zontally adjustable guides connected to the rear ends of said supports for locating the strip in a predetermined position over said lower dies.

12. Apparatus for making telescoping channels for refractory key brick encasement from a strip of sheet metal fed ahead intermittently, said apparatus comprising parallel vertically spaced top and bottom supports having front and rear ends, front and rear and middle dies mounted on the bottom support and extending across it in positions spaced lengthwise of that support, front and rear and middle dies mounted on the bottom of the top support and normally disposed above the level of the lower dies, the upper rear and middle dies being spaced apart a slightly different distance than the lower front and middle dies, the side edges of the upper front die and the lower rear die being parallel, a shear mounted on the bottom support transversely thereof between its rear end and said rear die and spaced from the latter, the upper rear and middle dies being positioned above the spaces at opposite sides of the lower rear die, a shear carried by the top support for cooperating with said lower shear, the upper front die being positioned above the space between the lower front and middle dies, cooperating shears carried by said supports between said middle dies, the cutting edges of all of said shears being inclined toward one end of said lower rear die, and means for moving the top support down toward the bottom support to shear said strip into two tapered blanks and to fold one blank down around the rear lower die and to fold the other blank up around the upper front die, whereby a pair of channels of two different widths with tapered flanges will be formed simultaneously.

13. Apparatus for making channels for refractory brick encasement from a strip of sheet metal fed ahead intermittently, said apparatus comprising parallel ventically spaced top and bottom supports having front and rear ends, front and rear and middle dies mounted on the bottom support and extending across it in locations spaced lengthwise of that support, a shear mounted on the bottom support transversely thereof between its rear end and said rear die and spaced from the latter, front and rear and middle dies mounted on the bottom of the top support and normally disposed above the level of the 20 lower dies, the upper rear and middle dies being positioned above the spaces at opposite sides of the lower rear die, a shear carried by the top support for cooperating with said lower shear, the upper front die being positioned above the space between the lower front and middle dies, cooperating shears carried by said supports between said middle dies, and means for moving the top support down toward the bottom support to shear two blanks from said strip and to fold one blank down around the rear lower die and to fold the other blank up around the upper front die, whereby a pair of channels will be formed simultaneously.

References (Iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,259,301 Evans Oct. 14, 1941 2,324,205 Gladfelter et al July 13, 1943 2,803,870 Uphofl. Aug. 27, 1957 d re 

